Grand
empress dowager (also grand dowager empress or grand empress mother) ( (太皇太后)) was a title given to the
grandmother
Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic gra ...
,
or a
woman
A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...
from the same generation, of a
Chinese,
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
,
Korean
Korean may refer to:
People and culture
* Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula
* Korean cuisine
* Korean culture
* Korean language
**Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl
**Korean dialects and the Jeju language
** ...
, or
Vietnamese
Vietnamese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia
** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam.
* Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam
** Overse ...
emperor in the
Chinese cultural sphere.
Some grand empress dowagers held
regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
during the emperor's childhood. Some of the most prominent empress dowagers extended their regencies beyond the time when the emperor was old enough to govern alone. This was seen as a source of political turmoil, according to the traditional views of Chinese historians.
Chinese grand empress dowagers
Han dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Lü Zhi (188 BC – 180 BC), during the reign of
Emperor Qianshao and
Emperor Houshao
*
Grand Empress Dowager Bo (156 BC – 155 BC), during the reign of
Emperor Jing
*
Grand Empress Dowager Dou (141 BC – 135 BC), during the reign of
Emperor Wu
*
Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan (74 BC – 37 BC), during the reign of
Emperor Xuan and
Emperor Yuan
*
Grand Empress Dowager Qiongcheng (33 BC – 16 BC), during the reign of
Emperor Cheng
*
Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun (7 BC – 13 AD), during the reign of
Emperor Ai and
Emperor Ping
*
Grand Empress Dowager Fu (帝太太后 instead of 太皇太后) (7 BC – 3 BC), during the reign of
Emperor Ai
Cao Wei
*
Grand Empress Dowager Bian (226–230), during the reign of
Emperor Ming
Jin dynasty (266–420)
* Grand Empress Dowager
Li Lingrong (397–400), during the reign of
Emperor An
Liu Song dynasty
* Grand Empress Dowager
Xiao Wenshou
Xiao Wenshou (蕭文壽) (343–423), formally Empress Xiaoyi (孝懿皇后, literally "the filial and benevolent empress") was an empress dowager of the Chinese dynasty Liu Song. She was the stepmother of the founding emperor, Emperor Wu (Li ...
(422–423), during the reign of
Emperor Shao
*
Grand Empress Dowager Lu Huinan (464–466), during the reign of
Emperor Qianfei
Chen dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Zhang Yao'er (566–568), during the reign of
Emperor Fei
Northern Wei dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Helian (452–453), during the reign of
Emperor Wencheng
*
Grand Empress Dowager Feng (471–490), during the reign of
Emperor Xiaowen
*
Grand Empress Dowager Lou Zhaojun (559–560), during the reign of
Emperor Fei
Northern Qi dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Hu (577), during the reign of
Emperor Youzhu
Northern Zhou dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Ashina (579–581), during the reign of
Emperor Jing
Tang dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Guo (824–848), during the reign of
Emperor Jingzong,
Emperor Wenzong,
Emperor Wuzong and
Emperor Xuānzong
*
Grand Empress Dowager Zheng (859–865), during the reign of
Emperor Yizong
Song dynasty
* Grand Empress Dowager Cao (1067–1085), during the reign of
Emperor Shenzong
* Grand Empress Dowager Gao Taotao (1085–1093), during the reign of
Emperor Zhezong
Emperor Zhezong of Song (4 January 1077 – 23 February 1100), personal name Zhao Xu, was the seventh emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Yong but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after his coronation. He reig ...
* Grand Empress Dowager Wu (1189–1197), during the reign of
Emperor Guangzong
* Grand Empress Dowager Xie (1194–1203), during the reign of
Emperor Ningzong
Emperor Ningzong of Song (19 November 1168 – 17 September 1224), personal name Zhao Kuo, was the 13th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the fourth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He reigned from 1194 until his death in 1224.
He ...
*
Grand Empress Dowager Xie Daoqing (1274–1276), during the reign of
Emperor Gong; the proceeding two emperors were her grandsons but they were fleeing from the Mongols
Liao dynasty
* Grand Empress Dowager
Xiao Yanmujin (died 933), during the reign of
Emperor Taizong
* Grand Empress Dowager
Xiao Noujin
Xiao Noujin (蕭耨斤; 980-1057) was a Khitan Empress Dowager of China's Liao dynasty. She was a concubine of Emperor Shengzong, the mother of Emperor Xingzong, and one of the three Liao Grand Empress Dowagers. She had great influence after t ...
(1055–1057), during the reign of
Emperor Daozong
* Grand Empress Dowager Xiao Dali (1101–1118), during the reign of
Emperor Tianzuo
Jin dynasty (1115–1234)
* Tangkuo, Grand Empress Dowager of Qingyuan Palace (1135–1136), during the reign of
Emperor Xizong
* Heshilie, Grand Empress Dowager of Mingde Palace (1135–1143), during the reign of
Emperor Xizong
Yuan dynasty
* Grand Empress Dowager of Dagi (1321–?), during the reign of
Emperor Yingzong
*
Grand Empress Dowager Budashiri (1333–1338), during the reign of
Emperor Huizong
Ming dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Zhang (1435–1442), during the reign of the
Zhengtong Emperor
* Grand Empress Dowager Zhou (1487–1504), during the reign of the
Hongzhi Emperor
The Hongzhi Emperor () (30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505) was the tenth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1487 to 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng, he was the eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called ...
*
Grand Empress Dowager Wang
Wang Zhengjun (; 71 BC – 13 AD), officially Empress Xiaoyuan (孝元皇后), later and more commonly known as Grand Empress Dowager Wang, born in Yuancheng (modern Handan, Hebei), was an empress during the Western Han dynasty of China, who pla ...
(1505–1518), during the reign of both the
Hongzhi Emperor
The Hongzhi Emperor () (30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505) was the tenth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1487 to 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng, he was the eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called ...
and the
Zhengde Emperor
The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521.
Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zh ...
*
Grand Empress Dowager Zheng (1565-1630) (posthumous title), awarded by the
Hongguang Emperor
The Hongguang Emperor (; 1607–1646), personal name Zhu Yousong (), childhood nickname Fuba (福八), was the first emperor of the Chinese Southern Ming dynasty. He reigned briefly in southern China from 1644 to 1645. His era name, ''Hongguang'' ...
Qing dynasty
*
Grand Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang (1661–1688), during the reign of the
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to ...
*
Grand Empress Dowager Cixi (1908), during the reign of the Xuantong Emperor (
Puyi
Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...
)
Japanese grand empress dowagers
{{see, Empress of Japan#List of grand empress dowagers
See also
*
Empress dowager
*
Từ Dụ (1810-1902), Vietnamese royal and only ever person to be crowned Great Grand Empress Dowager
References
Titles